“ASHES OF THE PAST”, a double album arose from the inspiration of the Iranian post-rock band CROWS IN THE RAIN, contains eleven compositions that can be compared to eleven rivers – they just flow. Just like rivers, they have the points in which we can drift calmly with the mild current, but also the points when we are overwhelmed by its power and have nothing to do but to give into it. Just like in nature, the transition between these bipolar points is gradual and smooth. We almost cannot feel the current of the sound as it slowly overtakes us, allowing us to drown in harmonies. As the river consists of a single stream, songs on “ASHES OF THE PAST” are usually based on one theme, to which numerous tributaries are flowing in. There are no sudden transitions from quiet to loud, instead, musical motives are slowly developed by adding more and more sounds, until creating a dense wall of sound in the end. As for me, such composition has a much bigger impact on the listener, as it requires lots of focus and attention. In this way also, “ASHES OF THE PAST” can be listened to in two ways: either as a background, filling the space, or with full focus of the listener, which can get him into meditative altered states and cut him away from reality. The album is significantly coherent which increases its meditative qualities. With a steady rhythm, cosmic sounds that are borderline psychedelic fill the album’s arid sonic corridors, though it doesn’t simply drift away and become background noise. These alien noises all merge together over drumming that is best described as curiously “tribal.” Each track, as expected, takes its time reaching its audience from distant galaxies. ASHES OF THE PAST takes the listener on a journey to nowhere. CROWS IN THE RAIN get their inspiration not only from post-rock. Actually, you can hear more ambient, shoegaze and even drone in their music. This eclecticism as well as skillful mixing of the genres defines the album and its uniqueness among others.